GRIM DIG
Madeleine McCann cops searching Christian B’s cellars for key evidence of MURDER not just abduction, BILD boss claims
POLICE searching the cellars of Madeleine McCann suspect Christian B are looking for evidence of a murder, the editor of the Bild newspaper has claimed.
Cops in Germany have this week excavated an allotment known to have been used by the alleged killer, and are rumoured to be planning a search of a second.
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Convicted sex offender Christian B, 43, was named by police as a prime suspect in the McCann case last month.
He is known to have been living in the Praia de Luz resort around the time of disappearance in 2007, and at some time after to have returned to his native Germany.
Neighbours at two allotments he later used in Hanover and nearby Braunschweig have described a pattern of strange behaviour, including living onsite and carrying out construction work.
Police spent three days this week using diggers, sniffer dogs, and underground radar to excavate the Hanover plot, and are reported to have uncovered an underground cellar.
They have not disclosed precisely what they are looking for, but Julian Reichelt, editor of German tabloid Bild, has claimed they are searching for evidence of a murder.
"What we are hearing from our sources is that they have moved into the direction of recovering and finding evidence that will make this a murder case clearly to everyone," he told Good Morning Britain.
"The German investigation has declared this a murder case but so far it is completely unclear to the public how that is, what proof makes this a murder case and not a case of missing child to them.
"In the past 48 to 72 hours our sources have told us they are now looking at this one allotment and possibly the second one for that piece of evidence that will clearly publicly turn this into a murder case.
"What they have found there they have not commented on."
Prosecutors have previously said they have evidence that Madeleine is dead and even of how she was killed, though have not disclosed what it is.
'VERY SUSPICIOUS'
Neighbours at the Hanover site have said that Christian B spent time living in a hut there and would talk about having it insulated.
The structure was reportedly demolished shortly after Christian B left the plot, with no outward sign remaining of the cellar contained in its concrete base.
The owner of the Braunschweig site has recounted conversations in which her former tenant asked her about building a cellar there.
“There was a hole in the floor inside the allotment house," she said.
“One day he told me he wanted to put clear plastic over it. I said, ‘What the hell for? Just so you can look down into a dirty old cellar?’
"In retrospect I think he wanted to build a Fritzl cellar.”
Asked about the activity, Reichelt continued: "Very suspicious behaviour in both of these allotments in two different cities.
"The second one in Braunschweig - which police haven't searched yet - neighbours are telling the story that he over a couple of months has removed stone by stone stuff from basically inside the little house built on that allotment and has built a whole basement.
"Some place where he can hide stuff within that little compound and covered it with wood.
"Then after a couple of months of doing that labour there [Christian B] just suddenly disappeared. Paid the bills that were still outstanding and left and never showed up again.
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"No one at that scene - that allotment - knew why he was digging there and I have to say it is kind of weird as well that no one was asking questions why was someone was building a secret basement."
Prosecutors have not confirmed whether they intend to search the Braunschweig site.
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